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Beijing: Refusing to yield on its all-weather ally, China on Saturday announced the extension of its “technical hold” on India’s bid to get Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar designated as a terrorist by the United Nations, days before it was to expire.

The Chinese technical hold was set to lapse on Monday, and had China not raised further objection, the resolution designating Azhar as a terrorist would have been passed automatically. The hold has now been extended for another six months.

“The technical hold on India’s listing application submitted to the 1267 committee in March, 2016 has already been extended,” foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told PTI in Beijing. “There are still different views on India’s listing application. The extended technical hold on it will allow more time for the Committee to deliberate on the matter and for relevant parties to have further consultations,” Geng said.

On 31 March this year, China, a veto-wielding permanent member of the UN Security Council, had blocked India’s move to put a ban on the JeM leader and Pathankot terror attack mastermind under the Sanctions Committee of the Council. China was the only member in the 15-nation UN organ to put a hold on India’s application with all other 14 members of the Council supporting New Delhi’s bid to place Azhar on the 1267 sanctions list that would subject him to an assets freeze and travel ban.

Geng said the 1267 Committee of the UNSC “organises its work as mandated by relevant resolutions of the Security Council.” “China always maintains that on the listing matter, the 1267 Committee should stick to the main principles of objectivity, impartiality and professionalism, base its judgments on solid evidence and decide upon consensus among the members of the Security Council,” he said in a written reply to a question.

Following the decision, the hold now has been extended in the midst of India-Pakistan tensions over the Uri terrorist attack, which was blamed on the JeM group. China’s technical hold coupled with its move to block India’s membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) cast a shadow on the Sino-India ties. Both the countries have held several rounds of talks on the issues in recent months.

China’s move to extend the technical hold comes ahead of the expected meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Goa during the Brics Summit on 15-16 October. In June last year, China had blocked India’s demand for taking action under the Council’s anti-terrorism resolutions against Pakistan for releasing Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Zaki-ur Lakhvi—the mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

India had raised the issue of blocking by China of Azhar’s designation as a terrorist at various levels with Prime Minister Narendra Modi also taking up the matter with the Chinese leadership at different fora. PTI

Masood Azhar (Urdu: محمد مسعود اظہر) is the founder and leader of the militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed, a militant group based mainly in the Pakistan-administered portion of the state of Kashmir.[1] Pakistani authorities detained him after the Pathankot attack in India.[2] India had listed Masood Azhar as one of its most wanted terrorists due to his history of militant activities.

Early life

Azhar was born in Bahawalpur , Punjab on 10 July 1968 as one of ten siblings[5] although some sources list his birth date as 7 August 1968 as the third of 11 children.[4] Azhar's father, Allah Bakhsh Shabbir, was the headmaster at a government-run school, and his family operated a dairy and poultry farm. Azhar studied at the Jamia Uloom ul Islamia Banuri Town in Karachi, where he became involved with Harkat-ul-Ansar. After he suffered injuries in the Soviet-Afghan War, Azhar was chosen as the head of Harkat's department of motivation and became an editor for the Urdu-language Sad’e Mujahidin and the Arabic-language Sawte Kashmir.[4][5]

Azhar later became the general secretary of Harkat-ul-Ansar and visited many international locations to recruit, to raise funds and to spread the message of Pan-Islamism. Among his destinations were Zambia, Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, Mongolia, the United Kingdom and Albania.[5]

Activities in Somalia

Azhar confessed that in 1993 he traveled to Nairobi, Kenya to meet with leaders of al-Itihaad al-Islamiya, an al-Qaeda-aligned Somali group, who had requested money and recruits from Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM). Indian intelligence officials believe that he made at least three trips to Somalia and that he also helped bring Yemeni mercenaries to Somalia.[6]

Activities in the UK

In August 1993 Azhar entered the UK for a speaking, fundraising, and recruitment tour. His message of jihad was given at some of Britain's most prestigious Islamic institutions including the Darul Uloom Bury seminary, Zakariya Mosque, Madina Masjid in Blackburn and Burnley, and Jamia Masjid. HIs message was that "substantial proportion of the Koran had been devoted to 'killing for the sake of Allah' and that a substantial volume of sayings of the Prophet Muhammad were on the issue of jihad." Azhar made contacts in Britain who helped to provide training and logistical support the terror plots including "7/7, 21/7 and the attempt in 2006 to smuggle liquid bomb-making substances on to transatlantic airlines."[7]

1994 arrest – 1999 release

In early 1994, Azhar traveled to Srinagar to ease tensions between Harkat-ul-Ansar's feuding factions of Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen.[5] India arrested him in February and imprisoned him for his terrorist activities with the groups.[6]

In 1995, foreign tourists were kidnapped in Jammu and Kashmir. The kidnappers, referring to themselves as Al-Faran, included the release of Masood Azhar among their demands.[5] One of the hostages managed to escape but the rest were eventually killed.

In December 1999, he was freed by the Indian government in exchange for passengers on the hijacked Indian Airlines Flight 814 (IC814) that had eventually landed in Kandahar, Afghanistan, which at the time the Taliban controlled.[8] The hijackers of IC814 were led by Masood Azhar's brother[citation needed], Ibrahim Athar. His release from Kot Bhalwal jail was supervised by an IPS officer, S P Vaid.[9] His younger brother Abdul Rauf Asghar had planned this attack. Once Masood Azhar was handed over to the hijackers, they fled to Pakistani territory. Pakistan had said the hijackers would be arrested if found, a difficult task given the length of the border and multitude of access points from Afghanistan. The Pakistani government also previously indicated that Azhar would be allowed to return home since he did not face any charges there.[10]

Shortly after his release, Azhar made a public address to an estimated 10,000 people in Karachi. He proclaimed, "I have come here because this is my duty to tell you that Muslims should not rest in peace until we have destroyed India," vowing to liberate the Kashmir region from Indian rule.

2001 arrest – 2002 release

Masood Azhar's outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed allegedly carried out a string of deadly attacks against Indian targets, including the attack on the Indian parliament in December 2001 that brought India and Pakistan to the brink of a full-scale war.[11] Soon after the Indian parliament attack, Masood Azhar was detained for a year by Pakistani authorities in connection but was never formally charged. The Lahore High Court ordered an end to the house arrest on 14 December 2002, much to the fury of India.[3]

Works

This section of a biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (January 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
He wrote many books on Jihad in Urdu. Some of them are as follows:

On 7 December 2008, it was claimed that he was among several arrested by the Pakistani government after a military raid on a camp located on the outskirts of Muzaffarabad in connection with the 2008 Mumbai attacks. He continued to live in Bhawalpur.[14][15] Pakistan's government denied it had arrested Masood Azhar and said it was unaware of his whereabouts [16] On 26 January 2014, Masood Azhar reappeared after a seclusion of six years. He addressed a rally in Muzaffarabad, calling for the resumption of jihad in Kashmir. His group, Jaish-e-Muhammad, claims he is currently in Srinagar, India.[17]

Sanctioned by US Treasury

The U.S. Treasury is prohibiting Americans from "engaging in any transactions" with three Pakistan-based militants and a front group. Al Rehmat Trust, called "an operational front" for Jaish-e Mohammed, was designated for providing support to and for acting for or on behalf of that group, and Mohammed Masood Azhar Alvi, Jaish-e Mohammed's founder and leader, was designated for acting on behalf of the group.

China's position

The Chinese government blocked a UN Security Council Sanctions Committee listing of Azhar as a terrorist, thwarting international efforts to disrupt the activities of his group.

They call the dalai lama and his entourage as a bunch of terrorists and we host them, they also claim Arunachal Pradesh as their own and are very opposed to the Dalai lama, Prime Minister or any central minister visiting Arunachal Pradesh.

I remember we were training Tibetans with our special forces in Jaunsar area, whatever happened to that?

To assume that China will support our position on terrorism without any benefit to them is immature, infact China does not loose anything form Pakistan and its terrorists, they only gain by keeping Indian focus on Pakistan.

On top of it Indian government shies away a lot from calling out china directly, we should make clear statements Naming PRC as a Supporter of Islamic terrorism for their support of Azar. If we make enough noise and spend some money on it, this may become a international issue and will make them loose a lot of face.

Short of getting them to do it with pressure, to think that PRC will do things voluntarily is childish, especially when we can not even have enough resolve to name China as a supporter of Islamic terrorists.

China will not support India against Islamic terrorist groups (operating against India) out of its good will for India (for there is none), but only for its own benefit or to ease pressure, built up not just by India.
So far as i understand, the threat of Islamic terrorism is not very high on china's radars, and India and China still have a lot of hostilities between each other.
There is a media narrative in all sources of news in India that is very clear (which does not happen by itself), what i think is that we should use that media narrative in the international forums.

China will not support India against Islamic terrorist groups (operating against India) out of its good will for India (for there is none), but only for its own benefit or to ease pressure, built up not just by India.

Let's look at China's reasons to support and not support.

JeM for parliament attack, in Delhi. Not a disturbed area.
LeT + HS for 26/11, in Bombay. Not a disturbed area.

Azhar for attack in Kashmir. Is a troubled area. china recognises its an internal problem and sees a link between troubled area and terrorism. The message is India should sort out that troubled area. This btw is the same position by Russia as well as the US.

When are we going to sort out Kashmir. I don't mean talking to the Paks, but dealing with Kashmiris (those willing to talk and and those who lay down weapons) and their demands as Indian citizens. Purely internal affair. Do that and it becomes harder for militants coming across the border to get sympathy on our side.

So far as i understand, the threat of Islamic terrorism is not very high on china's radars, and India and China still have a lot of hostilities between each other.

I hear there are many Uighurs fighting for Da'esh. So in the future China will face a bigger problem than India on that front.

There is a media narrative in all sources of news in India that is very clear (which does not happen by itself), what i think is that we should use that media narrative in the international forums.

China is not concerned about terror attacks on Mumbai or Kashmir, or the terrorist groups being run by the Pakistani establishment, they will only move on these groups if it is forced to do so. Neither is the USA, Russia, Sri Lanka, Nepal or Israel, unless their citizens or assets were directly targeted or if they stand to gain from being sympathetic with India, those are just the rules of the world we live in.

It is very obvious that talking to all parties in Jammu and Kashmir is essential, however it will be immature to think that it will lead to major reduction in terrorism, this is an area where 20% of the Hindu population faced ethnic cleansing for such efficiency that the population fell to less than 1%.

Right now with so many Muslim people going crazy across the world and creating this atmosphere of rebellion/jihad i doubt any peace will be here soon.

From the noise China makes in the media, it does not sound like they are concerned about ISIS and the rest. And from the discussions i have with Tibetans on Chinese Anti-Terrorism Operations, i do not think PRC will have any troubles dealing with the radicals in their muslim population.

Indian Government needs to be very direct in Accusing China of shielding terrorism in international Media, right now Indian Government is focusing on accusing China in Domestic Media (that too indirectly), i do not see the purpose of having Anti-China sentiments in the population as by the nature of business we will have to work with them a lot, both in China and in India, this shit will only bite us in the ass.
IMO.....

JeM for parliament attack, in Delhi. Not a disturbed area.
LeT + HS for 26/11, in Bombay. Not a disturbed area.

Azhar for attack in Kashmir. Is a troubled area. china recognises its an internal problem and sees a link between troubled area and terrorism. The message is India should sort out that troubled area. This btw is the same position by Russia as well as the US.

When are we going to sort out Kashmir. I don't mean talking to the Paks, but dealing with Kashmiris (those willing to talk and and those who lay down weapons) and their demands as Indian citizens. Purely internal affair. Do that and it becomes harder for militants coming across the border to get sympathy on our side.

I hear there are many Uighurs fighting for Da'esh. So in the future China will face a bigger problem than India on that front.

Don't follow.

I think there is change of guard in China. Also Pakistan has leveraged CEPC for unconditional support on Kashmir from China.

Lately many statements have been made by Chinese in official capacity to show not even an iota of concern about India's problem vis a vis Pakistan sponsored terrorism.